Few energy customers want to spend their free time comparing prices for gas and electricity.

What most people want is a supplier that will provide energy at competitive rates, ideally with some decent customer service thrown in.

Many of us aren't achieving that target, but think switching supplier is just too much hassle. Some people are willing to make the effort (see below) but overall switching levels in the energy industry are at an all-time low, despite increasing energy prices making it more important to try to find savings.

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SSE blamed the rising cost of buying wholesale energy and delivering it to customers' homes, as well as government charges collected through energy bills.

The price rise means a dual fuel SSE customer will see their average bill increase from £1,354 to £1,465 a year.

Ironically, SSE used to be one of the most consistent suppliers on the market for competitive standard tariffs.

According to data compiled for The Sunday Telegraph, from 2005 to 2010 it was the cheapest or second-cheapest provider out of the "big six".

source: uSwitch

SSE's standard cash and cheque tariff cost an annual average of £564 in 2005, more than £78 cheaper than the equivalent tariff from British Gas.

By 2010 prices had risen across the board, but SSE's standard tariff was still the cheapest, costing £1,057 on average – more than £130 less than Scottish Power's equivalent price that year of £1,195, according to figures from uSwitch.

It also ranked highly in uSwitch's survey of customer satisfaction, coming first for six years running until December 2012, when it was beaten by E.On.

But even excluding the latest price rise, SSE has become less competitive this year. Its standard tariff of £1,354 was more than EDF Energy, British Gas and npower.

A spokesman said: "SSE has always been committed to keeping its prices as competitive as possible. In a competitive market it is simply not possible to be the cheapest all of the time but SSE's supply brands have been among the cheapest on many occasions since 2006."

However, it is almost impossible to find a fair deal on any big supplier's standard cash and cheque tariffs. The average household energy bills for the big six providers range from £1,332 to £1,370 – around £250 more than Spark Energy's Advance 2, which costs £1,116 a year on average.

"After years of annual rises, energy bills are one of the biggest outgoings for many households, yet most are still paying their provider's standard prices," said Clare Francis of Moneysupermarket.com. "It's an area where customer apathy is rife even though, when it comes to switching to better deals, energy is one of the easiest ones to do."

Mark Todd of comparison site energyhelpline.com agreed. "Standard pricing is almost a recipe for overpaying," he said. "There is no standard deal which tops the market."

There is also no single supplier that consistently tops the market. Instead, customers who don't want to switch frequently are being advised to consider fixed tariffs.

"I'd say if you are looking for a good long-term deal, you want a long-term fix," said Mr Todd. "They will almost certainly work out cheaper."

Five of the big six suppliers have a fixed-price energy tariff as their most competitive deal. The cheapest is from npower, which has an online price fix until November 2014 that costs an average £1,182 a year.

The cheapest fixed tariff in the market is from First Utility, which has an iSave Fixed v9 deal until April 2015 that costs an average £1,170 a year. This beats shorter tariffs from Sainsbury's Energy and npower, which have price fixes until next autumn costing £1,172 and £1,182 respectively.

If you want to set your bills for longer, there are fixed deals available for the next four winters.

The best longer-term tariff on the market is EDF Energy's Blue +Promise deal until March 2017, which has an average price of £1,339. This is closely followed by npower's Price Protector March 2017, which costs £1,341 on average.

The EDF deal has the added advantage of no exit fees, so customers can leave for free if they find a better deal.

There are signs that the latest round of price rises has spurred consumers into action. Ms Francis said visits to Moneysupermarket's energy pages increased by about tenfold on Thursday, when SSE announced the price rise.

"Switching is simple and easy, it only takes five minutes to find a cheaper tariff online and it is worth remembering that you are only changing supplier, it is the same gas and electricity so you don't need new wires or pipes.

"All you need to switch is a copy of your existing bill so you can see how much energy you currently use and how much you pay."

'I switch for service as well as price'

Emma Lunn, a 39-year-old freelance journalist from London, decided to switch recently from British Gas to First Utility because of its cheaper tariffs.

Ms Lunn faced a number of problematic transactions with the supplier, which at one point took out too much money via her direct debit.

This, along with a price rise, led Ms Lunn to switch to Sainsbury's Energy, a partner of British Gas. Ms Lunn said that although Sainsbury's charged more – around £80 a month compared with approximately £65 a month under First Utility – the poor customer service she received from First Utility made the switch worth it.

"Don't always look at the cheapest deals," she said. "Customer service is a very important factor when choosing a supplier." Ms Lunn said she was happy with Sainsbury's so far, but would consider switching again next year.

'I will check for better deals in six months'

Aruna Koya, an IT consultant from west London, used to stick with her regular supplier npower but found the bills too expensive. She switched to Spark Energy but experienced worse customer service and higher bills than she expected.

She now uses EBIco, Britain's only not-for-profit energy company, which is supplied by SSE. Despite being on a variable tariff, she said her monthly bills had been more than £40 for gas and £40 for electricity only once. "The customer service is also far better," Ms Koya, 37, said. "I plan to stay with EBIco for now, but I will check again in six months to see if there are better deals around."